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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. kid — child
  4. court — for sport
  5. race — a contest
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. track — a path
  8. race — humankind
  9. spell — letters
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. track — to keep track
  14. spell — magic
  15. court — of law
  16. bulb — for light
  17. race — the arms race
  18. track — a song
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — of a king
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bulb — for light
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com